These days, Taurus is probably best known among the members of the shooting-sports community for its extensive selection of budget friendly defensive handguns, including polymer-framed pistols and compact double-action revolvers. In 2019, the company made an award-winning move to bring more outdoor enthusiasts into the fold with the launch of the Raging Hunter lineup of big-bore revolvers. Chambered in calibers like .44 Magnum, .454 Casull and .460 S&W, these beefy double-action wheel guns leave the factory outfitted with ported barrels and integral optics rails making them ideal options for handgun hunting and defense against dangerous game.
In 2024, the company took another big step in a fresh direction to catch the eye of big-game hunters with the release of the Expedition bolt-action hunting rifle. Although the long gun makers Heritage Manufacturing and Rossi are a part of the Taurus Holdings family of companies, the Expedition is the first bolt-action to bear the Taurus name. As of this writing, the rifle series includes two models: a .308 Winchester with an 18-inch barrel, along with a 6.5 Creedmoor sporting a 20-inch barrel. This evaluation takes a closer look at the .308 Win. version.
Although Remington Arms has suffered a series of serious setbacks in recent years, the Remington 700 bolt-action rifle design launched in 1962 continues to be one of the most popular options among American hunters. Much like the Glock Gen 3 pistols and Mossberg 500 series pump-action shotguns, the Remington 700 enjoys an impressive selection of aftermarket stocks, components and upgrades. Aero Precision, Bergara and Faxon Firearms are just a few of the manufacturers that offer trigger groups, actions, barreled actions and complete rifles that can share parts with the Remington 700. With this in mind, the Taurus Expedition is manufactured using in-house components while being based on, and compatible with, the enduring Remington 700 configuration.
The Expedition's tubular short-action receiver, barrel, bolt and firing pin are all crafted from premium-grade stainless steel. All but the firing pin are treated with Taurus’ durable matte black Diamond-Like Coating (DLC) for added wear and corrosion resistance. The left side of the barrel is marked "Made in Brazil by CBC." CBC is an abbreviation for Companhia Brasileira de Cartuchos in Ribeirão Pires, São Paulo. The receiver features a bolt-release lever on the left side with the ejection port facing to the right. The top of the receiver is drilled and tapped to accept Remington 700 short-action scope mounts like the one-piece Weaver Multi-Slot 97T Base (48330; $24.85) used for this evaluation.
The bolt is of the three lug variety to provide a more secure lockup, and to reduce the bolt lift to just 60-degrees. Deep fluting is cut into the bolt to reduce its overall weight. Across from the external extractor, inside of the recessed bolt face are two spring-loaded, plunger-type ejectors. The flattened and skeletonized right-side bolt handle is topped off with a removable fluted knob. At the rear of the bolt assembly is a shiny silver extension topped with a red dot that visibly protrudes to indicate that the assembly is cocked and ready to fire.
Just behind the bolt handle is the trigger group's two-position rocker type safety lever. The lever's serrated knob is pulled back, towards the shoulder stock, for SAFE and pressed forward, towards the red dot on the receiver, to place it in the FIRE position. The Expedition's bolt can be cycled and removed with the safety engaged.
The 18-inch-long free-floated barrel features what has been deemed a “semi-weight barrel profile.” According to a set of digital calipers, this tapered barrel has a 1.1-inch diameter just in front of the barrel nut mounting it to the receiver. By the time you get down to the threaded muzzle, the diameter is 0.74-inches. The gentle spiral pattern to the barrel’s exterior is the result of the cold-hammer forging conducted by Taurus in Brazil. This process, which contributes to improved accuracy, is followed by a bead-blasting session to give the barrel a matte finish. Leaving the spiraling forge marks in place on the barrel gives it a subtle but eye-catching profile without the added cost of additional modifications to the profile. The six-groove rifling is cut at a 1:10-inch twist and the muzzle is threaded at 5/8×24 TPI to support popular muzzle devices, including sound suppressors. A knurled thread protector is provided.
The bottom metal for the Expedition is, in this case, a one-piece polymer unit which incorporates the magazine well, magazine release and the oversized trigger guard. This rifle accepts easy-to-find AICS-pattern magazines with one five-round polymer magazine provided. The wide ambidextrous magazine release lever is mounted to the front of the trigger guard.
The non-adjustable trigger is listed as single-stage, which is a description it lived up to nicely. The smooth-faced, steel-bow trigger exhibited no take-up. Instead, it stayed in place with firm resistance before breaking quite cleanly with 4-pounds 12-ounces of trigger pull. The trigger's arch of travel was just 0.15 inches, perhaps a bit less. Some folks may say the pull sounds a bit on the heavy side. But the break was so clean and the travel so short that it felt just fine to me. Personally, I would not be in any hurry to upgrade the trigger unless a reduced pull weight was a must. But in this case, it does not seem to be.
The injection molded polymer stock is right in line with current hunting stock contour preferences. Modern bolt guns are being outfitted with stocks that borrow more from the shaping and features of competition and precision rifle stocks than the sporting stocks of the past. The resulting hybrid profile is comfortable and intuitive to use.
This stock is a dark gun metal gray with fine white spattering and a subtle overall texturing which provides an effective level of purchase without being abrasive to bare hands. The fore-end is flattened along the bottom edge for improved stability when using a sandbag rest. It is also outfitted with no less than three different mounting points for accessories. They include a standard sling swivel stud, a rounded Spartan Precision QD mount port and a screw-mounted M-Lok accessory plate with two slots. A second sling swivel stud is set into the stock at the rear near the one-inch thick recoil pad.
The Taurus team paid close attention to the shaping of this stock's grip. Nearly vertical, it is hand filled with a narrowed and contoured stock extension. This makes it a comfortable fit for a variety of hand shapes. The shoulder stock's raised cheek rest is ideal for today's larger magnified hunting rifle optics and it provides a 14-inch length-of-pull (LOP).
Overall, the Expedition's fit and finish demonstrates top-shelf craftsmanship. The action was smooth right out of the box, the controls operated cleanly and the action is properly seated in the stock. The free-floated barrel passed the paper test and the rest of the rifle passed all of the pre-range bench checks with flying colors. This rifle tipped the scales at 7 pounds 3.6 ounces unloaded, but with the optics rail and empty magazine installed.
For the shooting range evaluation, the rifle was topped off with an Athlon Optics Argos HMR 2-12×42 second focal plane scope with a BDC 600A SFP IR reticle (#214008; $399.99). Outfitted with advanced, fully multi-coated lenses for improved light transmission, this water resistant scope is argon purged. Since argon has lower thermal conductivity than nitrogen, it's more effective at fog proofing the optic. This version has a red illuminated reticle with six brightness settings powered by a single CR2034 button cell battery.
At the shooting range, the Expedition proved to be utterly reliable throughout the course of informal and formal testing. This gun balances and swings nicely when handled in a standing position. As expected for the caliber and the rifle's weight, the levels of felt recoil were of the more moderate, short-action caliber variety making this rifle a good fit for new and more seasoned hunters alike. Because of the more modern stock configuration, it was also a pleasure to work with from a bench rest.
Taurus states in their literature that the Expedition is capable of sub-MOA accuracy, or, shot groups of roughly an inch or less in size at 100 yards. To find out if this was the case, formal bench rested accuracy testing was conducted at 100-yards by firing three, 3-shot groups using three different loads. The test ammunition included Federal's American Eagle 130-grain Varmint & Predator jacketed hollow points, Federal’s Premium Gold Medal Sierra Match King 168-grain boat tail hollow points and Sig Sauer's HT 150-grain solid copper hollow points. Bullet velocity was measured for 10-shot strings using a LabRadar LX chronograph. Here are the results:
For what is essentially an off-the-rack rifle, it would have been good to see at least one of these somewhat randomly selected loads yield sub MOA accuracy results. But in this case, despite the differences in bullet weights and price points, all three loads printed groups between 0.60 to 0.92-inches in sizes with an average extreme spread of 0.77-inches. And when there are all-shots-touching groups on the paper, I have no problem with admitting that it has more to do with the quality of the gun than the skill of the gunwriter pulling the trigger.
Sometimes, when a well-established gun company ventures into new territory, the first guns out the door may not be quite ready for the marketplace. But in this case, the Taurus Expedition is a properly developed and fully mature platform that's loaded with the useful features today's bolt-action rifle hunters are looking for. These rifles have a suggested retail price of $984.99 but real-world prices can be found for as much as $200 less than the listed price. I found several reasons to like the Expedition but the accuracy potential sealed the deal for me. At this point, all that Taurus really needs to do to bolster the Expedition series is to keep adding more caliber options.
Technical Specifications
- Type: Bolt-action rifle
- Caliber: .308 Winchester
- Magazine: Removable polymer box; 5-round capacity
- Barrel: 18 inches; six-groove rifling, 1:10-inch RH twist
- Trigger: Single-stage; Remington 700 compatible; pull weight: 4-pounds 13-ounces (as tested)
- Sights: None, receiver drilled and tapped for Remington 700 optics mounts
- Safety: Right side two-position rocker type
- Stock: Splatter-finished polymer; soft rubber recoil pad; LOP 14 inches
- Metal Finish: Stainless steel; matte black DLC finish
- Overall Length: 37.92 inches
- Weight: 7 pounds 3.6 ounces with empty magazine
- Accessories: Magazine, lock, owner's manual
- MSRP: $984.99 (Model 3-EXP308181); taurususa.com
